Description: The Forgotten Shrine 1 OUR KNEES TOUCH AS ADDY and I sit on crates in the dirty storage room. The place is packed with boxes and piles of papers that fall to the floor in a cloud of dust every time I shift my weight. In the corner there''s a crate filled with electronics like the ones they sell at the antiques shop--old swipe screens and these odd contraptions people used to wear on their ears for sound. Near the door is a stack of dolls with plastic heads and thick, stuffed bodies. Their lips look like tiny flowers the color of blood. They stare at us with cold, perfectly circular eyes. Whose stuff is this? Who collects dolls and old headphones? "Are you even listening to me, Jasper?" Addy runs a hand through her sandy hair as she rolls her eyes. From the sound of her voice, it''s not the first time she''s asked. I swat away some cobwebs. "How did you find this place again?" She shrugs. "I was bored during your last tour. Mom said I couldn''t go outside after curfew, so I explored inside." "You''re not supposed to be in the basement." I lean over and pick up a pair of purple headphones. My movement launches more dust into the stale air. "Neither are you, yet here we are." Addy grabs my knees and forces me to look at her. The way her green eyes drill into mine, I''m worried she can read my mind. She''s always been intense, but since I got back from the EarthBound Academy, she seems to have taken it to a new level. "Can we get on with it?" she continues. "I have a group chat in twenty minutes." By "group chat" she means an online meeting of her supposed-to-be-secret Bounders'' rights group, which I''m sure Earth Force is monitoring and recording. During my last tour of duty, Addy connected on the webs with some other Bounders to talk about Earth meet-ups and in-class support for potential cadets. While I think a Bounders'' rights group might make sense, it''s hard to care too much about help at school when you''re being asked to defend your planet against the Youli, an advanced alien race. "So skip it," I say. "This is a lot more important than your group chat. Plus, tomorrow we''ll both be shipping out to the EarthBound Academy. You''ll have more Bounder buddies than you can count." A sneaky smile lifts the corners of Addy''s lips. "Speaking of shipping out, am I finally going to meet your girlfriend?" This again? "For the millionth time, Addy, Mira is not my girlfriend." I''m not exactly sure what Mira is to me, and I''m not sure how I''d ever explain Mira to Addy. I definitely don''t want to tell her about the brain patches and the actual mind-reading part. "Sure." Addy''s voice is laced with sarcasm. "Either way, once we blast off, there''s no more secrets, which brings us back to the whole reason we''re down in this dump." Right. I made a promise at the end of last tour that I''d stop keeping secrets from my pod mates and my sister. I''d planned to tell Addy the truth when I returned, but the news was blitzed with rumors about aliens and Earth Force lies. The Force responded swiftly, arresting a handful of protestors who tried to land their vessel at the aeroport training facility. They said anyone caught disparaging the Force would be punished. I''m sure our apartment is bugged. It certainly didn''t do much to calm my fears when an officer showed up unannounced last month to review my "confidentiality commitments" to the Force. I wonder if they suspect a Bounder of the leaks? After all, Earth Force managed to keep the Youli war a secret until they launched the EarthBound Academy. Anyway, it was just too dangerous to talk to Addy. Still, I''m not going back into space without keeping my promise and cluing her in, and it''s not like Addy would let me. She suggested we meet here in this old storage room in the lowest subfloor of our apartment building. And from the condition of the place, I''m guessing the only people to have set foot in here for the last fifty years are Addy and me. I pluck a discarded mobile phone from beneath one of the dolls. "The person who put this stuff here has to be dead, don''t you think?" Addy shrugs. "Maybe." I drag my finger across the dusty phone screen, drawing an E and an intersecting F, the Earth Force logo. "I can''t decide whether this stuff is vintage or trash." Addy''s gaze morphs into a glare. "Jasper!" "Huh?" "You''re avoiding the topic, the whole reason we''re sitting on a stockpile of discarded electronics. What''s the deal with Earth Force? You promised you''d hold nothing back if I found a safe place to talk! Look around. I held up my end of the bargain." That''s true. There is no way Earth Force bothered to bug this place. It''s probably one of the most secure spots in all of Americana East. If Addy and I died in some freak accident, like say if the box of creepy dolls tumbled over and crushed us, they probably wouldn''t even discover our bones for another fifty years. Still, I wish I had time to stall. As much as I want to tell Addy, as much as I''ve committed to tell her, it''s still hard stuff to say out loud. And I''m not sure how she''s going to take it. But her eyes sear me like lasers. There''s no turning back. I take a deep breath. "So, you know how we''ve always been told that Earth Force needs the Bounders to expand the quantum bounding space exploration program?" "Let me guess," Addy says in a bored voice. "There''s more to it." She waves her hand in a circle for me to continue. "Well, yeah, there is. Earth Force''s agenda is not exactly what you hear about on EFAN." I pause, waiting for her reaction. "Obviously, J!" Addy throws her hands in the air, sending a dust cloud directly at my face. "Are you going to tell me what''s going on or not? It''s bad enough Earth Force thinks they can make me join their ranks without disclosing the truth about my mission. Now you''re acting just as cryptic as them, when you promised you''d tell me the truth!" I don''t know how to do this. I don''t know how to tell Addy she''s signed up to fight in an alien war. She''s already angry. That might throw her over the edge. "We''ve always known we''re Bounders, Addy," I say in a quiet voice. "I don''t understand why you''re so mad. What''s changed?" "What''s changed? Really? You have no idea what it was like while you were gone! Everyone knew I was a Bounder, but I didn''t get to go to space! I had to face all the stares and questions on my own! Thank goodness I found the chat group. They''ve been a lifeline for me." "I guess I didn''t know it was so hard on you." "Forget it. I''m fine. But where have you been since you got back from your last tour? Did you bury your head in that beanbag of yours? The rumors are rampant, and they all come back to the Bounders! What is Earth Force hiding?" What rumors about the Bounders? The gossip I heard was about aliens. "Where''d you get this stuff? In that chat group? I thought you talked about Bounders getting help at school." "Please, Jasper. You are so naive. That''s just what I tell Mom to keep her off my back." Naive? Hardly. If she knew how I spent my tours of duty, she wouldn''t say that. The way she''s talking reminds me of Barrick and the Wackies, the group of rebels we met on Gulaga. It turned out Waters was closer to them than he was to Earth Force. If what Addy''s hinting about her group is true--if they''re anything like the Wackies--she''s lucky she hasn''t been arrested. I need to tell her the truth. It may be the only way to keep her safe. I take a deep breath. "Fine. You want the truth? You know the Incident at Bounding Base 51? The failed bound where all the aeronauts were lost?" Addy leans forward, her gaze latched with mine. Here goes. "It wasn''t an accident. It was an alien attack. Earth Force is at war with an alien race, Addy. And we''re their soldiers." Addy stares at me, unblinking, kind of like the creepy dolls. I wait. Seconds pass. She doesn''t talk or even move. "Addy, do you understand? Earth has been at war since before we were born. That''s why they bred the Bounders. We were born to fight!" Addy slowly drops her eyes. I wish I knew what she was thinking. I reach for her hand. "Look, I know this is difficult to hear, and--" She pulls her hand away and crosses her arms against her chest. "So what they''re saying is true, then? Earth Force has kept the existence of an alien war secret for years? They didn''t even tell us these aliens were out there? These . . . Youli? I think that''s what they called them." She knows their name? Geez. Most cadets didn''t even know the Youli existed until they attacked us on the Paleo Planet. "That about sums it up. I guess your group brought you up to speed before I did. Which, by the way, is the riskiest thing you could be chatting about." I would add dumbest thing, but I don''t think that would spin the conversation in a positive direction. Addy''s lips quiver, and I worry I may have a sobbing sister on my hands. Not my specialty. But then she balls her fingers into fists and clamps her front teeth over her bottom lip. She lifts her arm and waves a finger above her wrist screen. "There''s still f

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